Allen Christie is set to help local cowboys and cowgirls get into the Christmas spirit.

The Alberta country singer and song writer headlines the 20th annual Cowboy Christmas Gathering at Hope Reformed Church on Sunday afternoon.

The gathering is a winter time spinoff of the Cowboy Gathering during the summer in Stony Plain. Now their December concert has become synonymous with the season for many.

“This is probably the biggest event we put on annually at the church,” said organizer and promoter John Lindsay. “People say to us that their Christmas starts at that concert.”

The gathering has become an integral part of the community over the years and has raised between $1,000 and $2,000 every year for the Kinsmen Christmas Hamper and the Hope Mission Christmas Dinner in downtown Edmonton.

Christie, who is from Alhambra, Alta., has performed at the gathering before and has become a crowd favourite over the years. His distinct sound and story-telling harkens back to a more traditional form of country music driven in Alberta by the likes of Ian Tyson and more recently Corb Lund.

The stage will be filled with a number of traditional cowboy acts including Jac and Jessie, Benjamin Williams, Windi Scott, Edward Pimm, and cowboy poet laureate Bryn Thiessen.

“Bryn’s probably the senior cowboy poetry laureate for the whole country,” said Lindsay. “Bryn’s done everyone of these concerts except two, and of course both of them were winter weather related.”

Lindsay has been in the music industry for 30 years having previously owned the Early Stage Saloon in Stony Plain. Because of his contacts he is able to bring in musical acts from across Canada. The Cowboy Christmas Gathering is circled on many of their calendars for an annual stop, with a number of them having performed for 18 or 19 of the 20 years of the gathering.

“When they’re on tour, they try to make time for us,” he said. “All of these artists do it for nothing.”

The night will close, as it always does, with all of the acts joining together to lead those in attendance in singing “Silent Night.” The Christmas hymn has special meaning for Lindsay and his wife Carmen Lindsay.

“Silent Night,” it is said, was written by Jozef Mohr in 1818 in the Austrian village of Oberndorf. Mohr was part of a travelling group that was to put on a Christmas play. However, the organ in the church was not working, and Mohr wrote the lyrics to the song while overlooking the peaceful snowy community. Franz Xavier Gruber only had a couple of hours to put the song to music for a guitar.

Carmen Lindsay’s great, great uncle was Mohr.

“My wife sings ‘Silent Night’ in German, the first verse, and then 500 people sing ‘Silent Night’ for each other,” said Lindsay. “I tell you, it brings tears to people’s eyes. It’s a beautiful Christmas scene.”

There is no admission for the 2 p.m. concert, but a hat will be passed for an offering for those who would like to contribute to the two charities. The Hope Christian Reform Church is just off the Yellowhead Highway and the Stony Plain overpass, at the turnoff for Calahoo.